Co-Director, Emory TB center & Professor of Global Health, Epidemiology, and Infectious Diseases
Rollins School of Public Health & School of Medicine, Emory University
Professor Kenneth G. Castro is a physician-scientist trained in epidemiology, with a specialty in internal medicine and subspecialty in infectious diseases, and Fellow, Infectious Diseases Society of America (FIDSA). He holds academic appointments as Professor, Hubert Department of Global Health and Department of Epidemiology, Rollins School of Public Health, and as Adjunct Professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, School of Medicine, Emory University. He also serves as Co-Director, Emory Tuberculosis Center (with Drs. Neel Gandhi and Jyothi Rengarajan) and as Director, Fulbright Scholarship–Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University. He obtained his medical degree from State University of New York at Stony Brook School of Medicine and completed his post-graduate training in internal medicine at the Residency Program in Social Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and fellowship in infectious diseases at Emory University School of Medicine. Before accepting his faculty appointment at Emory University in 2014, Dr. Castro’s professional career spanned 31 years at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) Commissioned Corps, where he started in the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) and progressed to become Director, Division of Tuberculosis Elimination and Acting Director, Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention. He also attained the rank of Assistant Surgeon General (Rear Admiral), USPHS. From October 1, 2014 until January 31, 2025 he held Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA) awards to serve as Senior Tuberculosis (TB) Scientific Advisor, Office of Infectious Disease, Bureau for Global Health, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). An award-winning author of more than 200 scholarly and policy publications, Dr. Castro serves as a peer reviewer for numerous scientific journals and as associate editor for Emerging Infectious Diseases, the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, and Public Health Reports. He maintains memberships in the leading scientific and professional societies in his field. A native Puerto Rican, Castro speaks fluent Spanish and has frequently served as advisor to the Puerto Rico Department of Health, the Pan American Health Organization, World Health Organization, and several Ministries of Health in countries where TB and HIV constitute major public health problems. He is a founding member of the global Stop TB Partnership. During 2014-2022 he was designated as ex-officio member, representing the Stop TB Partnership, in the Technical Evaluation Reference Group, Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. Selected awards include the Juan Carlos Finlay Award, Hispanic Officers Advisory Committee, USPHS Commissioned Corps (2008). Profiled in The Lancet as a “Public Health Hero” (2011), the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, North America Region (2014), the Lifetime Achievement Award conferred by USAID (2014), and the prestigious CDC Charles C. Shepard Lifetime Science Achievement Award (2016). He was selected as member of the honorary American Epidemiological Society (2018). He was recently appointed by Leah Ward Sears, Interim Emory University President, to the rank of Professor Emeritus, effective January 2026.
Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose.
Sunday, October 19, 2025
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM US ET
Sunday, October 19, 2025
11:55 AM - 12:00 PM US ET